Times writers pick their England top order to win back the Ashes

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With the injury fears surrounding Andrew Flintoff now allayed by an ECB declaration of his fitness for the fifth and final Ashes Test at the Brit Oval, the key selection question concerns England’s batting order.

The top five of Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood all failed with the bat at Headingley Carnegie, so Times cricket writers were asked what changes they would make to these positions. The assumptions were that the captain keeps his job and continues to open, while Matt Prior stays at No 6 and a fit-again Flintoff regains the No 7